Sensex settles below 14,100

The market witnessed high volatility, moving between positive and negative zones during the day. A late sell-off emerged, similar to the trend witnessed on Friday, 15 June 2007.

Market men said the latest circular issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Friday, 15 June 2007, failed to provide the much-needed clarity with regard to tax on profit/gain arising from sale of shares. CBDT issued the circular after trading hours on Friday, 15 June 2007. The domestic bourses bucked cues from strong global markets for the second straight day.

Selling was seen across the sectors, with shares from auto and IT pivotals leading the fall, while buying was witnessed in select index heavyweights. Some buying was seen in banking and FMCG stocks.

All the Asian shares gained today as the yen's continued weakness against the US dollar lifted shares of exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 2.69% to 21,582.89 while Japan's Nikkei surged 0.99% to 18,149.52 .

Singapore's Straits Times (up 1.19% to 3,623.79) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 1.95% to 1,806.88) also edged higher.

European markets were trading on a mixed note.

The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 82.57 points or 0.58% at 14,080.14. The Sensex had opened higher at 14,241.76 and advanced to a high of 14,283.71 shortly. But it was not able to sustain at higher levels. Fresh sell-off in late-afternoon session pulled it to a low of 14,057.26 at 15:07 IST.

The S&P CNX Nifty declined 24.35 points or 0.58% at 4147.10. The Nifty June 2007 futures settled at 4,134, a discount of 13.10 points compared to the spot closing.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3774.26 crore while the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 30785.27 crore. The turnover was muted, indicating that the action might have shifted to primary market. The Rs 8750-crore follow-on public offer by ICICI Bank opens for subscription on Tuesday, 19 June 2007.

The market breadth turned negative on BSE in late trade, after staying positive throughout the day’s trading session, as small and mid-cap stocks succumbed to selling pressure: 1,323 shares declined as compared with 1,237 that advanced, while 68 remained unchanged.

The BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.46% to 7,316.68 while the BSE Mid-Cap Index slipped 0.13% to 6,172.87.

Among the Sensex pack, there were 22 losers, while the rest were gainers.

Bike maker Hero Honda Motors was the top loser among the Sensex constituents, down 3.82% to Rs 654, on volume of 92,982 shares. The stock saw fresh selling after Macquarie Research recommended an underperformer rating on the stock with a 12 -month target price of Rs 608.

The Hero Honda Motor stock has been declining steadily ever since reports that it has cut production following reduced demand as interest rates surged to five-year-high. From a recent high of Rs 732.35 on 31 May 2007, the stock lost 7.10% to Rs 680 by 15 June 2007.

Other auto stocks were not spared either. Bajaj Auto (down 1.57% to Rs 2076), Tata Motors (down 0.60% to Rs 646.50) also declined. The BSE Auto Index settled with loss of 0.90% to 4,633.97.

Ranbaxy (down 3.81% to Rs 359.55), HDFC Bank (down 2.01% to Rs 1086), and Tata Steel (down 2% to Rs 588) were the other losers.

IT stocks declined on renewed selling following rupee's appreciation against the US currency. The BSE IT Index lost 1.11% to 4,940.61, and was the top loser among the sectoral indices on BSE.

Satyam Computers (down 1.11% to Rs 477.65), Infosys (down 1.16% to Rs 1986), Wipro (down 1.58% to Rs 522), and TCS (down 1.30% to Rs 1169.15) edged lower.

The rupee resumed higher at 40.75/76 a dollar from Friday's (15 June 22007) close of 40.85/86 per dollar and later edged up to 40.74/7450 a dollar in the late morning deals.

Hindalco Industries advanced 1.61% to Rs 163.90, and was the top gainer among the Sensex pack. The Aditya Birla group’s aluminium and copper major has proposed to set up a new extrusion press at an investment of Rs 50 crore.

The BSE Bankex was rose 0.24% at 7,453.52, and was the top gainer from sectoral indices on BSE.

ICICI Bank advanced 1.21% to Rs 919 on 1.78 lakh shares, and was the top gainer among the Sensex pack. Before trading hours today, 18 June 2007, ICICI Bank set price band for its follow-on public issue. The price band for the issue has been fixed at Rs 885 to Rs 950 per equity share. The stock had closed at Rs 908 on BSE on Friday, 15 June 2007.

Retail bidders would be allotted shares at a discount of Rs 50 per share to the issue price determined by the book-building process. The public issue opens for subscription on Tuesday, 19 June 2007. The issue size is Rs 8,750 crore. In addition, there is a green shoe option under which the Bank may allocate additional equity shares up to Rs 1,312.5 crore. The issue including the green shoe option aggregate to Rs 10,062.5 crore.

Union Bank of India (up 3.53% to Rs 124.55), UTI Bank (up 2.24% to Rs 610), and Vijaya Bank (up 0.91% to Rs 49.70), were the noteable gainers from the banking pack.

State run oil exploration major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) advanced 0.31% to Rs 885.80. ONGC’s overseas exploration unit, ONGC Videsh (OVL), last week, received Cabinet approval to buy a 33% stake in a deep-water gas field in Egypt from Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was down 0.42% to Rs 1672.90 on 6.09 lakh shares. As per reports, global oil giants including Shell, Exxon and Chevron are eyeing a stake in Reliance Industries’ overseas oil & gas assets. RIL recently hived off these assets into a separate company called Reliance Exploration and Production DMCC.

The BSE FMCG Index closed 0.02% higher at 1,789.09 as ITC (up 0.85% to Rs 153.30) and Hindustan Unilever (up 0.65% to Rs 188.25) gained.

State-run engineering major Bhel was down 0.35% to Rs 1385. As per reports, Bhel has won a Rs 139 crore order to supply 27 transformers to NTPC. Bhel would deliver the equipments within 25 months. NTPC will use the transformers for its Korba, Dadri and Farakka extension projects.

IKF Technologies tops volume charts on BSE On BSE, 1.89 crore shares were traded in IKF Technologies counter It was the top traded scrip on BSE, in terms of volume of shares. The share price dipped 5% to Rs 9.13.

Debutant Glory Polyfilms clocked the second highest volume of 1.56 crore shares on BSE. The share price closed at 28.85% premium at Rs 61.85 on BSE over IPO price of Rs 48. The Glory Polyfilms stock made its debut at Rs 50. The scrip touched a high of Rs 84 and a low of Rs 50 during the day. The scrip is placed in the B1 group of securities on BSE.

Time Technoplast topped the turnover chart with total turnover of Rs 217 crore followed by Nestle India (Rs 123 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs 103 crore), Divi's Labs (Rs 98 crore) and debutant Gory Polyfilms (Rs 96.75 crore).

Suven Life Sciences soared 6.26% to Rs 45 on volumes of 31.36 lakh shares after a block deal of 30 lakh shares at Rs 41.75 per share on BSE by 15:18 IST on BSE.

3M India fell 1.10% to Rs 1725 after the company said its Indian promoters sold 6.2% of their stake in the company in the open market between 7 May 2007 - 1 June 2007. Consequently, the Indian promoters hold 1% in the company and are no longer termed as promoters of 3M India. United States-based Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company holds 76% stake in the company.

Rajesh Exports dipped 2.6% to Rs 518.50 even as its net profit jumped 123.09% in Q4 March 2007 to Rs 33.33 crore as against Rs 14.94 crore in Q4 March 2006. Sales inched up 0.75% to Rs 1796.52 crore in Q4 March 2007 as against Rs 1783.07 crore in Q4 March 2006.

Geodesic Information Systems soared 10% to Rs 274.50 after reporting jump in net profit to Rs 29.68 crore in Q4 March 2007 as against Rs 12.74 crore in Q4 March 2006. Sales jumped 64.68% to Rs 48.12 crore in Q4 March 2007 (Rs 29.22 crore). Along with the Q4 March 2007 and FY 2007 results announced during trading hours today, 18 June 2007, the company's board also declared a 1:2 bonus issue.

Cadila Healthcare advanced 5.30% to Rs 365.15 after its board approved raising up to $100 million by issuing foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs)/ American depository receipts (ADRs)/global depository receipts (GDRs) or such other foreign currency instrument with a green shoe option.

Madhucon Projects surged 7.58% at Rs 215.05 after a block deal of 1.5 lakh shares was executed in the counter at Rs 208.50 per share at 10:26 IST.

Cranes Software International vaulted 5.14% at Rs 133.95 after it approved the acquisition of equity shares of Dunn Solutions Group, (DSG), technology based consultancy company in the US though its wholly owned subsidiary in the US, Cranes Software Inc., for about Rs 60 crore. It will also acquire another firm Tilak Autotech for Rs 10 crore thereby making it a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

Ashapura Minechem rose 0.71% to Rs 341 on reports that BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, is entering into a joint venture with the mineral producer and exporter. Reports suggest that the Australian giant will pick up 51% in Ashapura Minechem’s Rs 2,500-crore alumina refining project in Orissa. Ashapura will hold the remaining 49%.

Wall Street advanced again on Friday, 15 June 2007, after the week's most anticipated economic reading indicated that inflation excluding the price of gas remained tepid last month, easing some concerns that have jolted stock and bond markets in recent sessions. The Dow jumped 85.76 points, or 0.63%, to 13,639.48. The Nasdaq Composite index, still well off its record levels reached during the dot-com boom, rose 27.30, or 1.05%, to 2,626.71.

Crude oil was little changed in New York after rising to a nine-month high on concern US gasoline supplies are inadequate to meet peak summer demand. Crude oil for July 2007 delivery was at $68.10 a barrel, up 10 cents, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange today, 18 June 2007.